Our Team
Karan Jain
Karan Jain is a budding architect passionate about heritage and conservation. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Aayojan School of Architecture, Jaipur.
After working on Urban Redevelopment Project for Crafts Tourism Village at Kunda, Amber, and partaking in various workshops with veteran architects like Ar. Remi Papillault and Ar. Peter Rich, on topics like Water Harvesting Devices in the city of Amber and Haveli Architecture of Jaipur, he expands his belief to 'conserve and promote heritage as our inheritance, which is the root of our being.'
Pooja Agrawal
Pooja is an Architect and an Associate Professor at Aayojan School of Architecture, Sitapura, Jaipur and is presently completing her thesis in Urban Design Masters Programme. She also freelances, particularly for Research Projects.
After graduating in the year 2001, Pooja worked as an Assistant Architect, in Surat, Ahmedabad and Jaipur, mainly on conservation and research projects. She also holds considerable experience in coordinating and managing outreach events for DRONAH such as heritage walks, conferences and workshops. Her main area of interest lies in urban transformations and how urban precincts should be carefully dealt with in the present context.
Sarita Choraria
Sarita has been handling all office operations at DRONAH since September 2004. Always keen to learn, she takes care of all managerial work related to DRONAH and DRONAH Foundation with sincerity and zeal. Sarita graduated from Kanoria Post Graduate Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Jaipur, Rajasthan in 2003 and completed her Master’s from Rajasthan University in 2004.
Making use of good coordination skills, she has successfully coordinated and managed several events like heritage walks, conferences and workshops in the past. Her main area of interest lies in exploring new places.
Diksha Goel
Diksha Goel has been a part of projects led by the DRONAH team since 2020. She completed her bachelors in history from Miranda House, Delhi University and her masters in Heritage Management from Durham University. During her masters, she interned with UNESCO Chair on Archaeological Ethics and Practice in Cultural Heritage held by professor Coningham.
Somya Johri
Somyais working as an Associate Conservation Architect at DRONAHher strength lies in architectural documentation of heritage structures and conservation planning. At DRONAH, she has been involved in historical research, preparation of conservation and management plans, Heritage Impact Assessment of industrial sites in India, preparation of inventories and architectural documentation, and condition mapping of heritage structures. She also has considerable experience in organising conferences, workshops and publications for World Heritage Projects.
Srishti Jauhari
Srishti is a Cultural Heritage Expert at DRONAH, holding an MA in Heritage Management with a Dean’s List recognition from University College London, and a background in architecture & design from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. She presents extensive practice-based professional experience in heritage matters, accompanied with research work & project publications, with national and international organisations in India and the UK. Her core work areas at DRONAH include UNESCO World Heritage nomination & tentative listing, heritage interpretation, and, curatorial research & content development for museums and exhibitions. Her prior experience, with organisations such as World Monuments Fund and INTACH, focussed on conservation management planning, community consultation for heritage value assessment and heritage mapping. Srishti's key practical and research interests lie in UNESCO World Heritage matters, inclusive heritage interpretation, and contested & dissonant heritage.
Protyoy Sen
Having graduated from CEPT University Ahmedabad in 2023, Protyoy Sen is an architect with a vision of widening the perspectives of conservation beyond prevalent notions of heritage, and historicity. His primary interest lies in aligning the values of conservation with that of sustainability and urban planning, heritage economics, and adaptation of heritage to accommodate modern lifestyles. His Bachelors thesis – which delved into similar subjects – was also presented at conferences of ICOMOS India, and IEREK. Protyoy has been working at DRONAH since February 2024. During this time, he has been part of multiple scales of projects involving historical research, preparation of conservation and tourism development masterplans, condition assessment, adaptive reuse, and museum planning.
Malika Joshi
Malika Joshi is a Conservation Architect at DRONAH. She did her Bachelor's degree from AIT-SAP in 2022 and completed MA in Architectural Conservation from the National University of Singapore in 2023. Malika specializes in research and documentation, conservation policies, and traditional building materials. Her professional experience spans across India and Singapore, where she has contributed to diverse projects involving heritage assessment, design development, advanced research methodologies, digital twin technology, and 3D laser scanning. During her postgraduate studies at NUS, she was awarded the TTCL Scholarship, which supported her in exploring universal accessibility in historic buildings. Her research on the topic gained further recognition through an interview with CNA Singapore, where she discussed the importance and practical implementation of inclusive design in heritage contexts..
Sohini Pyne
Sohini is a Conservation Architect with a B.Arch from Manipal University and M. Arch in Architecture Conservation from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. Sohini joined DRONAH in 2021 and is currently working on museum and conservation projects in Kolkata. Sohini's work on the shared cultural heritage of Kolkata, specifically the Kolkata Chinese community at Tiretta Bazaar, was nominated to the World Monuments Watch 2022 by the World Monuments Fund.
Tanay Lalwani
I am Architect Tanay Lalwani, a graduate of SMEF’s Brick School of Architecture, Pune, and have been working at DRONAH for the past two years. Since my early years, I have been exploring and working on heritage sites, and the fortified landscapes of the Sahyadri ranges in Maharashtra. I have been exploring the field of heritage and conservation through various publications, research projects and grants. In my professional experience at DRONAH, I have been actively involved in key projects such as the Maratha Military Landscapes of India World Heritage Nomination dossier and the Upgradation and Extension of Patna Museum. As a young heritage professional, I aspire to conserve such lesser-known landscapes and monuments by developing innovative, context-driven approaches that address contemporary challenges while respecting traditional knowledge systems.
Tanya Chaturvedi Vegad
Tanya Chaturvedi Vegad is a PhD scholar in the area of Development Planning for Urban Heritage in India. At Dronah Foundation, she has been a part of several community-related projects and surveys with a focus on heritage and sustainability. With Dronah, she has collaborated in rural development, heritage planning, tourism planning projects and providing support to the editorial team for in-house publications. Her work profile includes conducting multi-stakeholder consultations and work with several NGOs. Being trained in Planning, she has knowledge of conducting village profile surveys and natural resource mapping. She has served as visiting faculty at Sushant School of Planning and Design, Gurugram, worked on Green Infrastructure Planning at Chiyoda Corporation, Japan; Environmental Planning Collaborative, Ahmedabad, among other global work experiences.
Devroopa Deb
Devroopa hold both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Archaeology and Ancient History from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat. My professional experience includes an internship at the Dakshinachitra Heritage Museum in Chennai, where I gained valuable skills in curating exhibitions. Additionally, I have served as a research scholar for the Archaeological Survey of India.
Ayushi Roy
Ayushi Roy, a 2024 architecture graduate from the MIT School of Architecture, Pune. Hailing from Patna and now based in Jamshedpur, she brings hands-on experience in digital heritage through LIDAR and photogrammetry from her 8-month stint at CHC, CEPT. Passionate about the intersection of history, culture, and community in architecture, Ayushi explores India’s lesser-known places, blending travel with research. She writes for architectural magazines, paints in her free time, and was recently part of a team awarded the CBRI Bhartiya Awas Uthan Puraskar. Her thesis was also recognized among the top 20 by NIUA.
